An M2M communication network may consist of various M2M nodes and a bearer network. The M2M nodes, as physical devices, may need to implement M2M services through communications between logical units included in the M2M nodes. One M2M node may include an Application Entity (AE) or a Common Service Entity (CSE). The AE is a logical unit for executing a practical M2M application. The CSE is a logical unit for managing the AE and the M2M node and providing services for the AE.
An AE may use a service, such as sending data to other AE or other CSE, provided by a CSE only after having been registered on the CSE, and this CSE may be referred to as a registration CSE of the AE. Meanwhile, as each CSE may provide different services, one CSE may be registered on another CSE so as to use a service provided by the latter CSE, and the latter CSE may also be referred to as a registration CSE of the former CSE.
An AE or a CSE on any M2M node may send a request to its own registration CSE to request to acquire location information of a specified M2M node. The location information of the M2M node may be acquired from a network by the registration CSE.
The AE or the CSE sends, to the registration CSE, a request for creating a ‘location management’ resource. Herein, ‘location management’ indicates the type of the resource, and may include a series of parameters related to acquisition of location information, for example, a node identifier of a node whose location information needs to be acquired, and a ‘target node identifier’ attribute is created under the ‘location management’ resource to store the node identifier of the node whose location information needs to be acquired. When the ‘location management’ resource is created, the registration CSE may synchronously create a ‘container’ type resource for storing acquired location information data. Meanwhile, a ‘location container’ attribute is created under the ‘location management’ resource to store an address of the ‘container’ type resource, and the ‘location management’ resource is associated with the ‘container’ resource.
Under present architecture, operation for acquisition of location information is not flexible enough. As a large amount of network resources, particularly radio resources, may need to be consumed during acquisition of the location information each time, the operation for acquisition of the location information adopted in the related technology easily result in increase of unnecessary resource consumption and generation of unnecessary expenses.